Credit Card Debts  

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Are you one of the millions Americans who carry a balance on your credit cards? If so, your debt can cost you much than you bargained for. Americans have consumed indebtedness that exceeds $2 trillion dollars. About 40 % of all credit card users pay their bills in full every, which means that they need to pay along with interest every months. In this kind of situation, if you are one of the “revolvers”, that is, you carry a balance from month to month.

So that, what is the actual reason that let you receives this kind of credit debt in the end of each month? These are several reasons:
1. Reduced income or expenses: Too often we delay bringing expenses in order to a reduction in income for a mass of good reasons and let debt fill the gap. The sooner you adjust to your new reality, whether it be temporary or permanent, the better off you'll be.
2. Poor money management: A money spending plan is essential. Without planning you may spend hundreds of dollars unnecessarily each month and end of the month you may have to pay extra changes and expenses on your credit card services.
3. Underemployment: Some of the unemployed citizen may misuse the credit cards. They may treat the credit debts as their future income. Down the road if you increase your income due to more hours, a second job, or a better job, then is the time to start adding in some of the previous spending before you become underemployed.
4. Gambling: call it America's new entertainment or the Indian's revenge. Either way this is a guarantees exchange of money from you to “the house”. It can be addictive, hard to stop and loans are freely available. Gambling establishment may be the only place you can mortgage your house while intoxicates and have it be legal.
5. Saving too little or not at all: The simplest way to avoid unwanted debt is to prepare for unexpected expenditures by saving three to six months of living expensive.
6. Banking on a windfall: Spending tomorrow's money today is very tempting. A planned job bonus may not be a sure thing. The inheritance that you believe will come your way may not. The lesson is don't spend the money until the check clears.
7. Financial illiteracy: Many people don't understand how money works and grows how to save and invest. You are responsible for your life and your money anyway. Financial mistake are increasingly expensive and complicated to resolve. Get educated and get in control.


There are a number of things you can do to prevent getting taken to the cleaners.


1. Restrict your use of credit. Cut up your credit cards. Stop using them whenever possible.
2. If you keep a card or two, pay them off full every month. Never carry a balance.
3. Set up a savings account for the unexpected.
4. Set up another account for semi-major repairs and expensive. Use that account to replace the washer, reroof the house and so on.
5. Set a budget and work on your self-discipline. Budgets need to be realistic to work, but they don't necessarily have to be hideously painful.
6. Pay cash for transient events like dining, entertainment, and travel. Charge that vacation and you'll be paying for it for a long, long time.

Electronic Currency  

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Electronic currency is also known as e-money, electronic cash, digital money, digital cash or digital currency. It refers to money or script transferred electronically through computer networks, the internet or digitally stored value systems. Electronic currency will possible like public-key cryptography and digital signatures make e-money possible. A private key known only to the owner, and a public key, made available to everyone. Whatever the private key encrypts, the public key can decrypt, and vice verse. Examples of how electronic currency are used are such as Hong Kong's Octopus Card system which started as a way to pay for transit payments but has now progressed to an electronic cash system, Singapore's FeliCa card and Netherlands Chipknip which has the same use as Hong Kongs Octupus Card, and Malaysia's Touch 'n Go card.There are two difference types of electronic currency: identified e-money and anonymous e-money (also known as digital cash).

Identified e-money contains information revealing the identity of the person who originally withdrew the money from the bank. Also, in much the same manner as credit cards, identified e-money enables the bank to track the money as it moves through the economy. Anonymous e-money works just like real paper cash.

Once anonymous e-money is withdrawn from an account, it can be spent or given away without leaving a transaction trail. You create anonymous e-money by using blind signatures rather than non-blind signatures. Online means you need to interact with a bank (via modem or network) to conduct a transaction with a third party. Offline means you can conduct a transaction without having to directly involve a bank. Offline anonymous e-money (true digital cash) is the most complex form of e-money because of the double-spending problem.

One of the primary benefits that electronic currency trading is that it allows doing business and earning with only a few dollars of investment. In fact, some electronic currency trading experts even suggest that beginners should start with only a few dollars so that they can first learn the ropes about electronic currency. Electronic currency trading does not demand much and it is really up to you if you want to increase your investment or not. With electronic currency trading you are given many opportunities to profit without spending too much on investment.

Moblie Payment system in M'sia: Its potentials and consumers' adoption strategies  

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Mobile phones are being used for phone calling, internet surfing, instant messaging, music playing, appointment scheduling, game playing, emailing, time telling and math calculating all over the world. Mobile payment, also called mobile web payment or WAP billing, is the collection of money from a consumer through mobile device such as mobile phone, Personal Digital Assistant or other device. To use this mobile payment function the user entails electing to make a mobile payment, being connected to a server via the mobile device to perform authentication and authorization, and subsequently being presented with confirmation of the completed transaction. Mobile Money is designed to overcome the limitations created by cash, cheques and credit cards. This Mobile Money encourages more consumers to shop online.


Potential

ü Safety of the consumers as transmits payment without credit card and cash.

ü Eliminates the hassle to queue up for bills payment.

ü Can be use when need for payments urgently or lack of other payment instruments.

ü Enhanced payment instrument availability.

ü Low signup fees and low transaction fee.

ü No minimum monthly transaction like credit cards and no merchant account required.

ü Support refund and reversal functions.

Strategies for mobile payment system adoption


B Attract consumers if the transaction cost of mobile payment included in the price of the purchased items become lower.

B Strengthen consumer confidence in safety, security and reliability of its networks as a means for consumers to access financial services.

B Increase consumer convenience in make payment at anytime, anywhere using mobile phone coupled with a 6-digit security PIN via SMS.

B Organize seminar and campaign of mobile payment about its advantages, benefit and awareness.

B Automatic activate customers’ telephones by logging into websites after register their mobile telephone numbers.

The Application of Pre-paid Cash Card for Consumers  

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For the first time in decades, a new payment form, the prepaid card, is making significant inroads into the UK payments infrastructure. Prepaid cards present our partners with a fresh new opportunity to serve existing customers, reach out to new market segments, and expand their brand recognition. Prepaid cards further the evolution of the card payment business from the pay later of credit and the pay now of debit, to the pay before of prepaid.Prepaid cards are easy for consumers to understand and use. The consumer determines the card spending limit by adding money directly to the account, and our cards can be re-loaded with additional money as needed via online, Post Office or PayPoint channels. Funds from a prepaid card can be accessed via ATM, PIN POS, and signature POS delivery channels. Prepaid offers tremendous flexibility, convenience, and spending control.

The most common prepaid cash card in Malaysia is Touch ‘n Go. Touch ‘n Go card is an electronic purse that can be used at all highways in Malaysia. Touch ‘n Go uses contact less smartcard technology. The card looks similar to a credit card. User can continue using the card as long as it is pre-loaded with electronic cash. User can reload the card at toll plazas, train stations, Automated Teller Machines, Cash Deposit Machines, Petrol kiosks and at authorized third party outlets.

Application of Prepaid Cash CardsThe prepaid cash card can be used in such several ways:-
1. Pay bill
2. Shopping
3. Get cash at ATMs
4. Transfer money
5. Pay for toll

How to Safeguard Our Personal Data?  

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In this world, there has thousands of security solutions that are available, but why is protecting sensitive data so difficult? A dizzying variety of technical solutions are available, like network firewalls, personal firewalls, operating system patching solution, anti-virus, anti-spyware, intrusion-detection , and security management systems. Shouldn’t we able to keep our most sensitive data safe? The answer to this question will be yes!


The following is a list of things that I believe every computer user should know :
1. Identity and remove those unnecessary files which contain Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or other such information if no longer required.
2. Set passwords on all accounts.
3. Keep software and operating system up-to-date.
4. Approach e-mail attachments with care. Before opening any attachment, the recipient should consider whether the sender is known and if the attachment is expected, if no, then recipient should not open such attachment.
5. Run anti-virus software. Since so much business is performed using e-mail, this is a compulsory application to help identify viruses.
6. Limit access to the computer. Turn file-sharing off unless absolutely
Necessary, if file- sharing is necessary, configure it with a strong password.
7. Run a personal firewall. Both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS have buit-inpersonal firewalls that should not be turned off. Consider other commercially available firewalls as an additional step.
8. Turn off the computer when it is not in use. Unless the computer must be kept running for services. It is impossible to compromise or infect a computer that is not running.

9. Regularly check for spyware. Spyware is often is installed in computers when other applications are installed or when Wes sites are visited.

The Application of 3rd Party Certification Programme in Malaysia  

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(New Program Enables Vendors to Certify Storage Virtualization Devices for VMware Environments, Providing Greater Choice for Customers)

VMware, Inc., announced a new hardware certification program for storage virtualization devices. Combined with the virtualization-enabling technologies in VMware ESX Server, this program is designed to enable customers to have more choice in deploying virtualized storage solutions with VMware Infrastructure.
“VMware is committed to working with our storage partners to offer customers the greatest choice of storage vendors when deploying virtualization across their organization’s infrastructure,” said Parag Patel, vice president, alliances at VMware. “As enterprises increasingly standardize their IT environments using virtual infrastructure, it is important to have a breadth of storage hardware options available to them.”
By enabling hardware vendors to certify storage virtualization devices for VMware Infrastructure, VMware and hardware vendors together are poised to bring to market the complementary technologies of server virtualization and storage virtualization. As a result of this program, customers will be able to leverage the flexibility of management, cost efficiency and high availability of VMware Infrastructure as well as storage virtualization to create an end-to-end solution.
Patel continued: “VMware Infrastructure leverages and drives significant new adoption of iSCSI and fibre channel SANs with its native capabilities for distributed volume management, VMware VMotion and rapid application recovery. Many customers are looking to implement network-based storage virtualization as their VMware environments continue to grow in order to optimize the storage resources that support these new capabilities. This new certification program is designed to fully support this capability by leveraging the native capabilities of VMware Infrastructure.”
VMware has worked closely with its storage ecosystem partners to extend partners’ storage virtualization services to virtualized environments, including collaboration to integrate products such as VMware Site Recovery Manager with third-party LUN-based replication. This new program to certify storage virtualization devices, with their complete feature sets, is another step forward in VMware’s ongoing efforts to work with the storage industry to bring server and storage virtualization together to improve customers’ flexibility, efficiency and total cost of ownership.
VMware launched its hardware certification program in 2000 to enable VMware and its hardware partners to fully test and optimize their products for VMware Infrastructure. Nearly 2,000 different server and storage hardware models are currently certified, representing products from 46 vendors. VMware is working directly with its Global- and Premier-level Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program members to certify their storage virtualization devices. VMware is also working to expand the certification program to the broader storage ecosystem, including to Select-level TAP members, later this year with testing done by VMware’s authorized testing centers or by AppLabs or Cognizant Technologies. These global IT services companies specialize in testing and are authorized by VMware to test eligible hardware for all standard VMware hardware certification categories.
VMware continues to work with the world’s largest networked storage system vendors including EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM and Network Appliance to attain certification of their storage offerings later this year. This 3rd party certification programs the delivering a true end-to-end virtualization solution, from server to storage, and enabling customers to reap the benefits of sophisticated virtualization services across their entire storage environment.

Phishing  

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Phishing is the act of using fraud method and criminally and fraudulently steal people information such as username, password, credit card number, bank account number to invade other people privacy. Phishing is not just limited to personal information; phishers can also send emails with virus attachments. Phishers know that most people that use computers, more specifically, the Internet, have little to no knowledge about security.

The best practices to protect from online fraud are:

P Never reply to e-mail messages that request your personal information. It will be very suspicious of any e-mail message from a business or person that asks for your personal information or one that sends you personal information and asks you to update or confirm it.

P Don't click links in suspicious e-mail because the link might not be reliable. If you receive an email with a bad link in it, add the link to your 'Restricted Sites'.

P Use strong passwords and change them often. Strong passwords means combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, which make them difficult for other people to guess. User need to change the passwords frequently and use a different password for each of accounts.

P Install a good Anti-Virus and firewall help protect your PC. It is important to keep your computer updated, and use antivirus software, especially if you connect to the Internet through a cable modem or a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem.- Monitor your transactions. Review order confirmations, credit card and bank statements to make sure that you're being charged only for transactions you made.


example of phishing message